A variety of unpredictable incidents could lead to serious injuries. Someone could get hurt due to poor facility maintenance at a business or rental property. They could end up injured when a product malfunctions or when motor vehicles collide. The traumatic injuries that people experience in serious incidents could range from contusions and soft tissue injuries to broken bones.
Occasionally, the injuries that result from a car crash or similar incident could lead to amputation or limb loss. Why do traumatic scenarios sometimes lead to people losing body parts?
The incident causes a traumatic amputation
Healthcare professionals generally categorize amputations into two categories. Sometimes, doctors choose to amputate a body part to improve a patient’s prognosis in a surgical or medical amputation. Other times, the amputation occurs as part of the initial trauma. Motor vehicle collisions and machinery incidents are among the types of traumatic incidents that could be severe enough to cause the immediate amputation of a body part. Those who experience a traumatic amputation often require emergency medical care as soon as possible, as they can lose large amounts of blood and are at risk of infection.
The body part suffers extreme damage
Healthcare professionals occasionally reach the conclusion that amputating an injured body part is the best option given the circumstances. A scenario involving extreme tissue damage could potentially lead to a medical or surgical amputation. Particularly bad fractures where the bone breaks into tiny pieces or crushing injuries that damage nerves and connective tissue might lead to healthcare professionals deciding that an amputation is the best course of treatment given someone’s condition.
The injury leads to a dangerous infection
Sometimes, a treatable injury, like an open or compound fracture, results in a severe infection. Healthcare professionals sometimes cannot save tissue in cases involving extreme infection and instead amputate the affected tissue to allow the rest of the body to heal.
In any of these scenarios, the injured party could incur massive medical expenses and may also experience a reduction in their earning potential. Individuals coping with limb loss related to some kind of personal injury might benefit from evaluating if there is adequate insurance coverage and determining if a personal injury lawsuit could be a viable option given their circumstances.